Nudity is a state of fact lewdity, to coin a phrase, is a state of mind

The business of the state trying to legislate modesty is relatively both an infantile and ridiculous procedure. Of course, it is true that the more things are secreted the more intriguing they become, because it is always the forbidden that has the strongest appeal. Nudity is a state of fact - lewdity a state of mind.

One very important difference between color and monochromatic photography is this: in black and white you suggest in color you state. Much can be implied by suggestion, but statement demands certainty... absolute certainty.

[A photograph] should do something to the beholder either give a more complete appreciation of beauty, or, if nothing else, even a good mental kick in the pants.

Now, whereas we do not find it hard to accept the beauty of a flower for itself alone, in present-day, mechanical-industrial civilization, people will usually question the use of a picture. Things are estimated much more for what they do or will do than for what they are or will become... .

I had a growing feeling that most of the best art of the world in painting and sculpture had been done, and that this newest form [photography] was more related to the progress and tempo of modern science of the eye.